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| Jeremy Clarkson came under fire after apparently using the N-word in unbroadcast footage from the BBC's Top Gear |
Jeremy Clarkson has begged viewers' forgiveness after he appeared to use the N-word during filming of his BBC programme Top Gear.
In a video statement posted online on Thursday, he said that he had tried to obscure the word when reciting the "eeny, meeny, miny, moe" nursery rhyme to chose between two cars, but that his efforts to do so "weren't quite good enough".
Clarkson had previously issued a robust denial of the allegation, telling his 3.2 million Twitter followers: "I did not use the N-word. Never use it. The Mirror has gone way too far this time."
But footage of the incident was later posted on The Daily Mirror website. In it Clarkson recites the beginning of the children's nursery rhyme "eeny, meeny, miny, moe" before apparently mumbling: "Catch a nigger by his toe."
His apology came after a day of growing calls for the BBC to sack him. The corporation issued a strongly worded statement saying: "Jeremy Clarkson has set out the background to this regrettable episode. We have made it absolutely clear to him, the standards the BBC expects on air and off. We have left him in no doubt about how seriously we view this." » | Josh Halliday, Nicholas Watt and Kevin Rawlinson | Thursday, May 01, 2014
